Using proprietary Bose® technology, L1 systems combine PA and monitors into a single, highly portable unit. The loudspeaker can be positioned behind or to the side —and you hear what the audience hears.

Running into limitations with L1 II

Hey all. I've been DJ'ing for a few years now, and I'm reaching some limits. I DJ exclusively pre-recorded music, not live performances. For background I have one T1, two L1 II, and two B2. I notice that I'm having trouble really filling out larger rooms and outdoor spaces. For example, I recently did a middle school dance in a standard size gymnasium, and I was nearly running up the limiter the whole time. It's not just the B2, but also the cylindrical radiators.

This year I was able to win a contract to DJ for a local high school. The three dances are in the LSU Union Ballroom, which seats 800 (usually 250-350 people at dances). I'm pretty worried about being able to fill the space with high SPL (highschoolers). I'm not trying to damage hearing, but at a max continuous of ~116 dBSPL / 1m, the towers just don't seem to be cutting it.

LSU Ballroom

I'm currently planning on upgrading, but I'd like y'alls input. I've been thinking of three ideas (in this order).

Swap Bose for a more conventional system. I've been eyeing the JBL SRX series and QSC K2 Series.

Keep the towers and buy two Packlite A1 and two B2. Would this increase the headroom of the system? I've been reading up on it a bit, and from what I can tell, it seems not. When I need more low frequency SPL, I try to quarter load the B2s. When I'm running out of cylindrical radiator steam, I usually boost the mids a bit and lower the master. I'm worried about running the L1 II up the limiter trying to fill a large space with sound.

I have a good friend that's selling a pair of Panaray 802 w/DSP. I have a spare amp handy. I was thinking about using them to reinforce the L1s when I needed greater SPL / coverage. Is this a bad idea? Bose Modeler says comb filtering .

Switch from two L1 II to two F1 w/F1 subs.

I really love my Bose system, but I'm scared it won't be enough. It sounds cheesy, but it's definitely a showpiece. Everyone always comes up and asks me what it is, tries to poke it, comments on the quality, etc. So what do y'all think? Keep the Bose and add more speakers, or switch to a new system? Thanks for reading through all that!

Hi Andy I do live sound and DJ'ing. For DJ'ing I've used the L1 MII with B2 successfully covering large areas. The last one was a car show where it was outdoors covering an area about 80% of a football field where I was located at the 50 yard line. Another previous event was a cancer walk benefit where I had to cover another large area (outdoor park where I was at the bottom of an slight incline, again probably about 80% of a football field but this time in the end zone). The secret is to get the L1 MII up higher and reinforce the bottom end. At both of those events, I raised the 2 L1 MIIs up 24" on custom made wooden boxes, which are extremely stable. (Yes, Bose will never condone this action but it transforms the L1 MII into a fully capable DJ setup for a large-wide area because the sound is not being blocked as much.) Leave the B2s on the ground. You must also augment the bottom end with additional subwoofers. For the car show, I used 2 Bose F1 subs to assist the B2s. For the cancer walk, I used 2 QSC KW181 subs to help the B2s in such a large outdoor area. A funny aside: I had to run a brief sound check at 0645 for the cancer walk where I needed to be bumpin'. Shortly thereafter, I had someone from a neighborhood (whose house was beyond a football field and a baseball field combined distance away) come by and stated that they would be having a wedding in their back yard around 1030 and asked if we could keep the music lower during that time frame because they were concerned about not being able to hear at the ceremony. They also commented that they felt the bass in their house during the initial sound check. I run the additional subs on their own mixbus so I can add/remove additional bass at any time. This gives you the flexibility to easily adjust the bass needs of the song/situation to the event. (I use a Behringer mixer because I sometimes need lots of channels for running live sound at these events too.) You could use the Aux output on the T1 mixer to drive the extra subs to have a similar independent control. I've also used the Bose F1 812's and F1 Subs successfully for several events. While the 812 is louder it does not have the horizontal coverage of the L1 MII. Both of those speakers are great for DJ'ing. But, I think you'll be surprised at the results of the L1 MII if you rent some subs (to test) and raise the L1 MII higher. Good Luck with whatever you choose! Sound equipment is just a tool. Choose the right tool for the job and you'll have great results!

Before setting up, place the sub in the middle of the area where you intend people to be dancing. Play a track and walk around where you want to set up and notice where the bass is the strongest. This is where you place the sub. Usually, this is against a wall or in a corner.

If you add extra subs, either stack them or place them next to each other.

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